We propose a session with a forum discussion amongst scholars and stakeholders in waste water reuse in the AMA. Our lead way and introduction to this forum discussion is a recently started project between the universities of Utrecht, Eindhoven and Wageningen involving a multidisciplinary exploration of transformation pathways to reintroduce wastewater recycling, seen as a nexus between energy, water and food systems and between cities and their suburban and rural hinterland of Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. 

Interrogating pathways for re-introducing wastewater reuse is necessary to address the scientific and implementation gaps between site-based experimental (pilot) studies and projects of wastewater reuse and their translation into circular resource management. Shared regional pathways for wastewater reuse, which reflect urban-rural relationships and build on past and contemporary understandings and manifestations of wastewater circularity, are not well established. Our research aims to generate action-oriented knowledge on how to align the diversity of past and present narratives, user practices and heterogeneous governance networks across the institutional boundaries of water, energy and agri-food systems and jurisdictional boundaries of urban, suburban and rural communities. We study the existing and emergent sociotechnical configurations of fragmented water, energy, and food systems based on 1) past, present and future narratives of wastewater reuse (e.g., on hygiene) (TU/e), 2) implications of wastewater reuse on consumer and provider practices (WUR), and 3) regional governance capacities (UU). The proposed forum aims to co-create transformation pathways together with stakeholders from the WEF sectors in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. 

The stakeholders will be confronted with (contrasting) past and present narratives of wastewater reuse, revealing for example historically normalized practices on the reuse of wastewater products in agriculture or domestic practices around food, energy, and sanitation. Next, experiences with novel wastewater practices and with governance arrangements around wastewater circularity will be discussed. 

The goal is to stimulate changing perspectives and co-develop shared imaginaries for wastewater circularity, and to explore how these imaginaries can be embedded in changing practices and governance institutions to enhance regional resource provision and urban-rural cohesion. The ideas for novel pathways generated from this forum will provide action-oriented knowledge on concrete steps to address barriers and opportunities for re-inventing and embedding circular wastewater reuse.